California School District Takes Legal Action Against Governor Newsom for Ban on Informing Parents of Child’s Pronoun Change
OAN Staff James Meyers
8:13 AM – Wednesday, July 17, 2024
A Southern California school district that is involved in a legal battle with the state over parental rights for their children in school, sued Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom Tuesday over a new law banning districts from requiring that parents be notified if their child decides to go by a different gender.
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The Chino Valley Unified School District and multiple parents argued in their suit that the new law violates the rights of parents protected under the U.S. Constitution.
“School officials do not have the right to keep secrets from parents, but parents do have a constitutional right to know what their minor children are doing at school,” Emily Rae, a lawyer representing the district, said in a statement.
Newsom spokesperson Izzy Gardon called the lawsuit “deeply unserious” and said the new law “preserves the child-parent relationship.”
“California law ensures minors can’t legally change their name or gender without parental consent, and parents continue to have guaranteed and full access to their student’s educational records consistent with federal law,” Gardon said in an email. “We’re confident the state will swiftly prevail in this case.”
The lawsuit comes after Attorney General Rob Bonta (D-Calif.) sued Chino Valley Unified over a rule its board approved last year requiring school staff to notify parents if their children change their gender identification or pronouns.
However, Bonta claimed the law discriminated against gender “non-conforming” students. A judge halted the policy while the case played out, and the district later updated the rule to broadly require parents to be notified if their child asks to make any changes to their student records.
Supporters of the new law claim it will protect transgender and gender-nonconforming students.
“This critical legislation strengthens protections for LGBTQ+ youth against forced outing policies, provides resources for parents and families of LGBTQ+ students to support them as they have conversations on their terms, and creates critical safeguards to prevent retaliation against teachers and school staff who foster a safe and supportive school environment for all students,” Tony Hoang, executive director of LGBTQ advocacy group Equality California, said in a statement.
Multiple conservative groups, including the California Family Council, said the law violates parents’ rights.
“This bill undermines their fundamental role and places boys and girls in potential jeopardy,” Jonathan Keller, the council’s president, said in a statement. “Moms and dads have both a constitutional and divine mandate to guide and protect their kids, and AB 1955 egregiously violates this sacred trust.”
Elon Musk also opposed the new law and announced that he would move the headquarters of SpaceX and the social media platform X to Texas from California in part because of the new law.
In 2021, Musk moved Tesla headquarters to Austin from Palo Alto, California, in 2021.
Meanwhile, at least six states have requirements that schools must notify parents of children who want to be referred to with a different pronoun, according to Associated Press reporting: Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Virginia asked school boards to adopt similar policies, but it does not have a law.
Arizona and Idaho require schools to provide certain information to parents but do not specify gender expression or sexual orientation.
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